You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘power’ tag.
When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him. Proverbs 16:7
I used to work at a factory where there was this old man, I’ll call him John, who was a walking Bible Encyclopedia. He was a short, stout little man who walked with a bit of a limp due to years of hard work on the farm and arthritis which had attacked him.
John wasn’t afraid to open ever conversation with something from the bible, a verse, a thought, a question about where you were with the Lord. He was a humble man with a captivating smile and a twinkle in his eye, and although he was a humble man, he wasn’t afraid to ‘boast’ a bit about the fact that he’d read the Bible through every year for 40 years! The man knew his Bible and he loved Jesus dearly.
While there were some that mocked John when he wasn’t around, no one turned him away when he stopped by to talk. He was a well respected man and when he died a few years later the church was packed with fellow factory workers, community people, family and friends, some of whom John had lead to a saving faith in Jesus.
The interesting thing to me about John is that there was nothing that would really draw you to the man. He was sort of, well, goofy in some ways and simple in others. He didn’t press himself on you, but he wasn’t afraid to ask how you were and give you advice on how to live life. He wasn’t concerned about how other people thought of him. He WAS concerned about what Jesus thought of him.
In the wisdom of Proverbs we see the way to living a life of peace. The way to living in peace is to focus on living for Jesus. It’s interesting to note there are three players in this short verse. Myself, God and my enemies. But my enemies are the third player and not directly involved in the process. The most important players are me and God.
There will always be those people who oppose us. We’ll be judged for our past, our family background, our gender, or life-style, our convictions, even our hair color. The list is endless of things people will be able to find to judge you on. Opposition in life is inevitable. If you aren’t opposed by SOMEONE in life about SOMETHING then you are doing NOTHING! It’s God’s job to deal with our enemies. Our only responsibility is to make sure we are in right relationship with Him.
What is important for us as Christ-followers is that we don’t give the enemy any ammunition. Peter tells us “Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.” (1 Peter 2:20). Many times we complain about persecution or attack and fail to realize that sometimes the actions against us are at least partially our own fault.
The message of Proverbs 16:7 is this. Make the main focus of your life today, to live for Jesus. Rely on His Spirit to guide your thoughts, actions and words. In this way, even though people will oppose you they will have no evidence to back up their attack. They may not like you, but they will have to admit (if nothing else to themselves) that their attacks are unjustified. Each of should live in such away that even our most vicious enemies will say, “I don’t like them, but I have to admit they seem to have their act together!”
PRAYER: Father God. You know better than I that there are people in my life that oppose me for many reasons. Some of those reasons may be justified. I ask that you would give me the wisdom and strength to resolve those to the best of my ability. I also pray that you would empower me to live from this day forward in such a way that others will have no evidence to convict me of their negative feelings about me. What I really want God, is for you to be glorified in my daily life to all that I come in contact with. I give you all the praise and glory for this. Amen.
He will say to them, ‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them. For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’ Deuteronomy 20:3-4 (NLT)
Everything is easier when you can do it with someone. When we are very young and afraid of the dark we feel safer walking hand in hand with our father, or better yet being carried. Visits to the courtroom or the doctor’s office are easier to take when we know that there is someone waiting for us outside the door. Someone that will comfort, support and encourage us along the way regardless of the outcome.
Not only are we comforted when we have someone beside us. We are strengthened in spirit when that person is stronger than us, or our enemies, and wise enough to know what lay ahead and how to guide us to victory.
As Israel was making its way towards the Promised Land God gave them many instructions concerning the road ahead. A constant theme to the Israelites and to us is that He, the God of Heaven, would fight our battles for us. He didn’t require large numbers of troops. He didn’t require strength. The only thing the Father really sought obedience and trust. He promised to fight our battles for us.
As you go into battle today, don’t let the battles of life surprise you. God has never told us we’d be without conflict. It’s the conflicts in life that strengthen who we are and allow us to see God work in us. Those conflicts could be physical battles of health or people with real names and faces. The battles could be emotional/spiritual battles within us that cause us to doubt or worry. Whatever attacks you today, remember that it’s not a surprise attack. Your Father knew exactly what would happen and how it will be resolved.
Not only does God ‘assure us’ there will be adversity along the way, He promises to go along with us. He never ‘sends us’ into battle. He GOES WITH US. He’s by our side. He’s ON our side. He will fight the enemies in our lives whether they are visible ones or hidden, spiritual and emotional ones.
Also, rest on the promise that your Father in Heaven wants you to be victorious. He’s not an old, uninformed and feeble man with a white beard, squinty eyes and hard of hearing. He’s a mighty warrior, trained in battle and armed beyond any enemy you may face. He will not let you down although at times the battle may seem to great.
You will endure hardship. You will NEVER be alone. You will be victorious as you trust in God for victory. Three great promises to see us through our day!
PRAYER: Father God. I look ahead at the things that lie before me and have to confess to you that I’m scared. I’ve tried to trust you completely and at times feel totally alone in the battle. I’ve failed you, myself and others so many times. I see no way out. I ask that you would give me wisdom to make wise choices, strength to carry through and trust so that I can know You are walking beside me and will see me through. Amen.
But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT)
Another great promise from the Word of God! We have victory! Everyone likes to win. But the reality is the Bible promises that we have victory over sin, yet we still struggle on a daily basis. For some of us our sins are the quiet, hidden sins of doubt, a critical spirit, worry or the desire for more.
For others of us, our defeats and failures are in the area of addictions, relational struggles, lust, anger and rebellion against God, our parents and anything that even looks like authority.
So where is this victory that the Bible talks about? Why do we still struggle with feelings of failure, shame, guilt and anger? Why do we continue to lose when we are supposed to win?
The fact of the matter is that it’s not about capability, it’s about execution. We are incapable as humans to defeat our sinful human nature. God knew that. That’s why He sent Jesus to die on the cross and that’s why 1 Corinthians says that we have ‘victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ’. So it was never intended that we’d win the battle on our own.
Take a sports team for example. We all know stories of highly favored teams that have gone up against an opponent of much lesser talent and ability. They lacked the big play guys, they were slow, and they just didn’t have a chance…on paper. But they came into the contest and soundly defeat the highly favored opponent. Why? In most cases it’s because the underdog did the little things it takes to win better than their highly favored opponent.
The same is true in the spiritual realm. We have all the power we need to soundly defeat the enemy. Jesus won the war, but we still need to fight the battles in order to see victory in our lives. We need to do the little things that will empower us to defeat the enemy.
Victory in life’s battles comes when we, as Christ-followers:
- Read the Bible on a daily basis. The more you read and the deeper you study the more power you will see come into your life. Start small. Even taking one verse with you throughout the day will be beneficial, but don’t stop there. Continue to press yourself to read more.
- Pray daily as well. Don’t look at prayer as some ultra-religious activity. It’s like talking to a loving father. Tell Him your fears, feelings and concerns. Ask Him to reveal himself through the Bible and others in your life.
- Fast regularly. Fasting has gotten out of vogue in recent years and is highly misunderstood by many. Fasting is NOT walking in agony for days on end because you are without food. Fasting is NOT the same as a hunger strike! It’s simply taking time, even one meal, away from food and your normal routine to spend some time with God.
- Fellowship with other believers. Some have stopped fellowshipping with other believers because they’ve been hurt intentionally or otherwise and see christians as nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites. Unfortunately there are many who have used their faith as a battering ram, inflicting great harm on others. Seek out sincere believers, even just one or two that will genuinely help you in your spiritual growth and offer accountability.
When we do the little things in our faith walk we’ll see our faith grow, we’ll be more able to endure the hard times of life and we’ll see patience and love towards others increase. Jesus has done the big things for us. He’s won the war. It’s up to us as individual Christ-followers to do the little things necessary to win the battles.
PRAYER: Father God. I confess to you that many of the struggles I have in life are a result of not doing the little things I need to gain strength and confidence. Please empower me, through your Spirit to read more, pray more, fast and fellowship with other Christ-followers so that I can win the battles in my life. Thank you that in Jesus I have the victory. Amen.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)
What a tremendously powerful promise! Paul is telling the Christ-followers in the City of Ephesus that the same God that created the universe and all that is in it, who sent His son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind, who rose Jesus from the dead and placed Him at a place of honor in Heaven’s throne room, who sent His very Spirit to dwell within those who choose to follow Christ. This same God has promised us that He can and will use us to do mighty things. Things that even go beyond our wild imaginations!
There’s an old adage that says “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!” But this adage doesn’t speak to the power of God working within us. He has the power to do whatever He wants as is evidenced in history, and the desire to see us prosper for His glory. His promise is sure. He can do amazing things through us.
So why is it then that we don’t see amazing things happen in our lives? You may ask, “If God is able to do those things why isn’t He doing them in me?” There could be several reasons we don’t see God working miracles in us and through us.
- We may not be looking! Some people look at things as being ‘mysterious coincidences’. But in reality there is no such thing as a coincidence. Our Sovereign God works in marvelous ways. Sometimes we need to train our eyes to see His work. Just as we often fail to notice a beautiful sunset, or appreciate the beauty of a flower or the new born baby.
- We may be locked in our past. It is easy for us to look at the mistakes we’ve made in the past and think that those mistakes will keep us from seeing God work in mighty ways. Take a look at the people in the Bible. All of the great ‘leaders of Faith’ stumbled and fell and failed God often. Yet they rose from their past to perform great works for the Kingdom of God.
- We may be imprisoned by sin. Jesus came to forgive us of our sins. Once we accept Christ we follow a new set of rules. A set of rules built on relationship and love, not law and condemnation. While we may be forgiven, if we continue to live according to the patterns of the world we may hinder God’s ability to work through us. His power is becomes greater as we grow closer to Him in a relationship of love.
- We may need to change our focus. Sometimes we have an idea of what we want to do for God rather than seeking what He wants to do through us. Seek His direction through Bible Study, prayer and your accountability group. Make sure you are following HIS vision and not your DESIRES. Even though your desires may be good and valid, they may not be what God wants you to do.
- The hard story of consequences. The story of God’s Grace is found throughout the Bible. In the midst of all those stories of God’s love and forgiveness however there are some hard stories, tough lessons to learn. Take the story of Moses for example. Moses focus in life was to bring God’s people into the promised land. But as he approached the border of the promised land God told him that because he struck the rock to get water rather than speaking to the rock, he wouldn’t enter the promised land. God used Moses mightily before and after the rock incident. But in the end he only got to view the promised land from a distance. Sometimes the consequences of our choices in the past can keep us from attaining all we hoped for. God forgives the sin and cleanses the conscience. But sometimes, for reasons we don’t understand, the consequences remain. Can God still use us? YES! Does He still love us? DEFINITELY. Should we give up and consider ourselves failures? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Regardless of the consequences you may be bearing from past choices, God has a plan for you and wants to do mighty things in your life!
PRAYER: Holy God. I thank you for the many stories in the Bible that show how you work through the lives of imperfect people like me. I confess that too many times I’ve doubted your ability to use me, or failed to clean up my life so I can be used by you. Forgive me for my rebellion and sin. Show me where I need to change so that I can see you work in me. Because of your promise I’m claiming great things for your Kingdom! Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 